March 2017 Around Town

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February 24, 2017

Asheville Amadeus Festival

The annual celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his music returns this spring, March 10th through 19th. This 10-day festival features much more than just music (although there’s plenty of that, too). A ranging schedule of events includes performances, education programs, social events and collaborations with community partners around town. World-renowned violinist Midori headlines this year’s celebration as artist-in-residence. Midori has been in the limelight since 1982 when, at just 11 years old, she played at the New York Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve Gala. Visit AshevilleSymphony.org for a full schedule of events.

19th Annual Asheville Orchid Festival

The oddly unique orchid flower is equal parts beautiful and tricky, a notoriously picky plant that makes it all the more lovable. Asheville’s orchid enthusiasts will gather once again at the North Carolina Arboretum’s Education Center March 25 and 26, where world-class orchid growers and breeders and regional societies will exhibit hundreds of beautiful orchids. The Western North Carolina Orchid Society partners with the NC Arboretum for this yearly festival, which always features rare species, new hybrids, programs and lectures to learn more about these charming plants. The WNCOS is a local non-profit devoted to the art and science of orchids. Interested in cultivating your own orchid knowledge? Monthly meetings
occur on the second Sunday of each month at the Asheville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau at 2 p.m.

Biltmore Blooms

Biltmore’s gardens, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead of Central Park fame, are renowned worldwide for their beauty and sheer palatialness, but no time of year do they shine like in the spring. During Biltmore Blooms in March, April and May, the Estate celebrates the season’s progression of Olmstead’s artfully arranged flowers. It begins with the last frost, when buttery daffodils and forsythia make their debut. Next, the most stunning part of the show arrives with 96,000 tulips in an array of bold colors. The season closes with seasonal shrubs like tropically pink azaleas and rhododendrons. The house always holds the same expansive beauty, but the shifting sights of the springtime gardens are breathtaking and unmatched. After a stroll through the gardens and greenhouses (more orchids to check out there!), drive down to the winery, through fields fresh with new growth, for the full experience.